| F.E.A.R. | |
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| Genre(s) | First-person shooter, psychological horror |
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| Creator(s) | Craig Hubbard |
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| First release | F.E.A.R. October 18, 2005 |
| Latest release | F.E.A.R. Online October 17, 2014 |
F.E.A.R. is a first-person shooter psychological horror video game series created by Craig Hubbard in 2005. Released on Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, there are three main games in the series; F.E.A.R. (2005), F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (2009), and F.E.A.R. 3 (2011). There are also two standalone expansion packs for the first game; F.E.A.R. Extraction Point (2006) and F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate (2007), but these games are no longer considered canon, as their plots were ignored in Project Origin and F.E.A.R. 3. In 2014, F.E.A.R. Online, a free-to-play game, was released, but the servers were shut down in 2015 with the game still in open beta. Monolith Productions developed the original game and Project Origin; Day 1 Studios developed F.E.A.R. 3; TimeGate Studios developed Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate; Inplay Interactive developed F.E.A.R. Online. Initially, the series' publishing rights were owned by Vivendi Games, who published the original game and the two expansions under the Sierra Entertainment label. In 2008, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment acquired the publishing rights and went on to publish Project Origin and F.E.A.R. 3. Aeria Games published F.E.A.R. Online under license from Warner.
The original game is set in the city of Fairport in 2025 and follows the fictional F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) unit, an elite group in the United States Army tasked with investigating supernatural phenomena, as they probe a private military company's secret research program, which has resulted in the unintended release of a dangerous and powerful psychic. The player takes on the role of the unit's newest recruit, Point Man, as he faces down not only the psychic, but also a lethal and unpredictable paranormal menace in the form of a young girl, Alma Wade. Project Origin is set immediately after the conclusion of the first game, and follows Sgt. Micheal Becket of Delta Force, who awakens in a strange hospital only to find that Alma, now free from her confinements, has taken a keen interest in him. F.E.A.R. 3 takes place nine months after the conclusion of Project Origin. Alma's pregnancy is nearing its end, and when a resurrected Paxton Fettel (the psychic from the first game) rescues Point Man from captivity, the two head back to Fairport, with Point Man determined to prevent Alma from giving birth. Fettel, however, has an entirely different motive.
All F.E.A.R. games are first-person shooters and feature several common guns, projectiles, and game mechanics, the most notable of which is "reflex time" (a slow motion technique that allows players to aim and shoot in real-time). With the exception of F.E.A.R. 3, the campaign in each game is single player-only. F.E.A.R. 3 can be played in either single-player or co-op mode. F.E.A.R. 3 is also the only game to offer the player a choice as to the playable character.
Critical reactions to the games have been mixed, although leaning positive. The original game received very strong reviews and went on to be celebrated as a defining title in the FPS genre, both for its mechanics and its innovations in AI technology. Subsequent games were not as well-received; whilst their mechanics were generally lauded, a common complaint has been that the series' psychological horror elements have lost potency with each entry. The original game sold very well, but after F.E.A.R. 3 failed to meet commercial expectations, the mainline series has been on hiatus.